Homereading I.

1/David McDowell. Britan in Close-up: an In-Depth Study Of Contemporary Britain. – Third impression, 2001

Chapters:

The system of government, pp.28-38

Government and politics:debate and change, pp.38-49

2/ E. Fielder, R.Jansen, M.Norman-Rish. America in Close-up

Chapter: The political system, pp. 142- 148

Unit II. Elections

Vocabulary list 2 . Elections

1. Election to (Parliament); to elect smb to.../for a term of ... general, universal, local, parliamentary, congressional, presidential, mid-term, nation-wide, primary, runoff election(s)

by-election

to hold, schedule, call an election

to fix/to rig an election; vote-rigging

to win/lose an election; to sweep a state

2. election campaign; to run, launch, organize a campaign

the run-up to the election

election agent, canvassing, to conduct canvassing,

a presidential bid/a bid for presidency

3. to nominate a candidate (for presidency), a nominee, to nominate smb as...; to put forward a candidate,

to stand for election /to run for (a post)

4. opinion poll/exit poll, to conduct, to take a poll

to predict /forecast election results

pollster, respondent

a candidate's approval /popularity rating; a front runner

5. to vote; to vote Conservative, Labour,etc.

the right to vote/ suffrage| franchise

to enfranchise

popular/electoral vote,

to be entitled to vote

educational, residential, property, age qualification

to abstain/ stay away from the polls

to be up for election/ re-election

6. polling/election day; to go to the polls polling station/ booth; ballot box; to cast a ballot,

voting turnout;

heavy, big, light, poor turnout

heavy /light poll,

invalid ballot paper to vote by proxy

7. constituency/ electoral district

one-member constituency;

safe/ marginal seats (constituences)

8. to win by a huge (small) margin of... seats

absolute/ overall/ clear majority majority /minority party

hung parliament; coalition parliament

9. electoral systems: a simple majority system; proportional representation (PR),

10. cabinet reshuffle; to resign/to quit,

resignation

lame duck/front runner/dark horse

Lesson 4. Elections in uk

People never lie so much as after a hunt, during a war or before an election.

Otto von Bismarck

`Reading for vocabulary 4.10. General elections in the United Kingdom

Before you read. Think over the following questions:

-Have you ever participated in the elections? What kind of elections were those?

- Do you think there is any difference between general elections in the

UK and the RF? What is it?

Read the following text.

Elections to the House of Commons, known as parliamentary (or general) elections, form the basis of Britain's democratic system. Britain is divided into 650 areas, called constituencies. Each constituency is a one-member constituency, as it is rep­resented by one Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons. The leader of the party which has the most MPs in Parliament becomes the Prime Minister.

General elections take place at least every five years. In practice, elections are held before the end of the five-year term. In exceptional circumstances, such as during the two world wars, the life of a Parliament has been extended beyond the five-year term.

The decision on when to hold a general election is made by the Prime Minis­ter. The procedure involves the Queen, acting on the Prime Minister's advice, dis­solving Parliament and calling a “new” Parliament. The Prime Minister usually an­nounces the dissolution and calls the general election. Voting takes place within 17 days of the dissolution, not including Saturday and Sundays and public holidays: therefore, election campaigns last for three to four weeks.

All British citizens may vote provided they are aged 18 years or over and are not legally barred from voting. All voters must be registered as resident in a constituency on a specified date. Voting in elections is voluntary. On average about 75 per cent of the electorate votes. People who are not allowed to vote include:

- peers, and peeresses in their own right, who are members of the House of Lords

- foreign nationals ;

- people kept in mental hospital;

- people serving prison sentences;

- people convicted within the previous five years of corrupt or illegal election

practices.

Anybody over 21 can stand for election, providing they are not disqualified. Those disqualified include:

- people who are bankrupt

- people sentenced to more than one year's imprisonment

- clergy of the Church of England, Church of Scotland, Church of Ireland and the Roman Catholic Church

- members of the House of Lords; and

- a range of public servants and officials, specified by law. They include judges, civil servants, some local government officers, full-time members of the armed forces and police officers.

Candidates do not have to live in the constituencies for which they stand. Most candidates in elections and almost all winning candidates belong to one of the main political parties. Candidates who are members of smaller political parties or groups, or who do not belong to any party, may also stand. Since the Second World War the great majority of MPs have belonged to either the Conservative or the Labour party. There is also an influential centre party called the Liberal Democrats, and another much smaller centre party known as the Social Democratic Party (SDP). There are also nationalist parties from Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.